Pitch band reed



w. H. Flsl-lA PITCH BAND REED Nov. 14, 1939.

Filed Nov. 19, 1956 Patented Nov. 14, 1939 f anni eAraNr orties'-'rrrnfsAND nanny" `Central Falls,l R. I., assigner to-,mieigican .SupplyCompany@ Central Falls,

l My invention v relates ltoA improvements in pitch lgardic'eeds'.'` fl' #Pitchband reeds are the-oldest type' of'loom reeds. TheyT originatedin old-fashioned hand looms where each4 dent was actually a-reed andpitch impregnated cordvr was employed .to hold the' reeds `together atyspaced distances;v Eventually metal strips'displ'aced the use Vof reedsas 4,

dents as 'shown in -f Patent No.Iv 315,599 to E. Adamson" in `1885. 'Thesubstitution of Vmetal strips for reeds ias, dentsis substantially thevonly important imp'ro'v'ement'l that has taken place in pitch band'reeds'v for centuries 4up "to my present invention. These 'pitch 'band'reedsl' l'lave'f4 been usually usedlir'i th'ef` weaving 'of cotton? orwoo-len fabrics? fand Shave jbeen'"relatively 'cheapt as-distinguished'ffrorn -thesocallc'edall-metal rleeds, lin

which f there hasv been a considerable' developm'entgbut iwhif'ih aremuch more expensive 'andar-e:

used for'the weavingofsilk and raynfad -fine Sil ' A great'diflicultywith thel standard-type of pitchband lreed has been'that theedgesfof'the dents'have rested againstth'e inner wooden surfacesoftthesemi-.cylindrical wooden ribs, two of which fwithi pitch impregnate'd':cordl haveinade' up eachtpitch band, tand-fon thevi'brationwhich occursuse,1theseed'ges have had a' tendency to become imbedded Tin. the.non-homogeneous? wond.v Pitch impregnated yarn..` orf cord' has.: 'been:gen-

dents. If, however, the dent ends become imbedded into the wood, thisready resilient axial expansibility and contractability of the pitchband shell is considerably lessened if not prevented. The imbedding ofsaid dent edges in the wood has had the following disadvantageousresults, namely, (l) that as the wood construction is always full ofknots or other irregularities, the f alignment and the spaces betweenthe individual dents have tended to become varied due to the fact thatone dent iinds a softer spot in the wood than another or may have tomove around a knot to nd such a soft spot, (2) the edges of the dents.ifflpaiisneeonfanderem 'f application November-T19, 193e, serai` No.111,635

' claims (C1. 1.9.9;192J.

have `become so imbedded in the wood as to impair the axialexpansibility and'contractability of the pitch band reed inA use, and(3) as-.they have become imbedded into the woodvthey have :dat-Y tenedthe tubular pitch impregnated cord into ,-5 ellipsoidal shape, therebytending to-loosen the pitch impregnated cord and break up the tubularrigid vshell formed throughoutv the. length of 'the' reed'.

To prevent the edges of the dents frombecom `10 ing imbedded in thewoodl therefore provide means, in my preferred embodiment comprisingflat protective'strips of hard material of sub- -stantially the widthofsaid pitch bands 'or the latvinner surfaces of said wooden ribs,interis` posed between said at inner surfaces of said ribs and the dentedges'. It is `apparent that this means also provides bearing meansv toinsure a somewhat evenly distributed axial lexpansibfility andcontractability .of the dents throughout the 20 length of the pitchband.

Employing my invention, it is apparent that the reeds are notonlystrengthened, but that they-function better in use, andthat the lifeof each reed is very greatly prolonged. Inasmuch 25 asfopposite ,edgesof the dents are clamped be-` tween vlongitudinally extending hardsurfaces, they maintain an even alignment of the dents and-insureagainst any one individual forwardly projecting dent striking theshuttle andl tending 3@ towear itout. These Yand such otherobjects of myinvention as `may'fhereinafter vappear will be best under stoodfromadescription of fthe accompanying drawing which illustrates an embodimentthereof. 35 i In the drawing, Fig. 1 is a front elevationof an improvedreed constructed in accordance with my invention with portions of theupper pitch band thereof successively broken away to show th-econstruction thereof L 0.

- tion. Said pitch band reed comprises the dents I 2 substantiallyequidistantly spaced as usual and the longitudinally` extending pitchbands i4 flexibly joining opposite ends of the dents *together` 50 atpoints spaced from the ends I of saidr dents. In accordance with theusual manufacture of such pitch band reeds each pitch band I4 comprisestwo wooden ribs I8 oppositely aligned adjacent Opposite end portions ofthe dents having flat inner sides 20 adjacent the opposite dent edges 22at points equally spaced from the ends of said dents and arcuate,preferably vsemi-cylindrical outer sides 2d which may, if desired, beprovided with the longitudinal grooves 26 therein. Said longitudinalgrooves 26 may be provided for the purpose of receiving thereinreenforcing metal strips 28. A suitable cord means 30, preferablypre-impregnated with pitch 32, is

spirally wound under tension around said ribs I8 to have each wind 34thereof extend between all adjacent dents l2. As in the course of theirmanufacture the dents are somewhat compressed together and as the pitchis plastic, when the dents l2 are assembled into the reed l0 an outertubular covering or vshell 36 of pitch exudes to the outer surface ofthe cord 32 to provide, when plasticized, a substantially homogeneousouter protective shell 36 of pitch extending throughout the length ofeach pitch band and hence reed.

The reed may be .completed by the addition of the usual end members 3Bhaving the caps 40 oneach end thereof to receive the projecting ends ofthe wooden ribs I 8. It is thus obvious that the exterior-pitch shell 3Bmay resiliently expand to permit any slight axial movement of one r moredents on an obstruction passing through the reed and resilientlycontract to return the dents I2 to their desired original alignment andspacing,

As stated hitherto, considerable difficulty has been experienced in theprior art in having the edges 22 of one or more of said dents get out ofalignment with those of theremaincler 0f said dents to thus continuouslystrike the shuttle and then tend to lessen its life, and the edges 22 ofthe dentslZ have tended to become permanently imbedded into the woodenribs at unequally spaced intervals due to the fact that a dent edge 22may strike a softer spot in the wood than its next adjacent dent edge,and also break the resilient outer tubular pitch shell, thus destroyingthe rigidity imparted by it to the reed.

In accordance with the teachings of my invention, therefore, to preventany of these contingencies taking place, I preferably provide means 42,in my preferred embodiment comprising fiat protective strips of suitablehard material, such as metal, bre, composition, etc. of substantiallythe width of the at inner sides 20 of said Wooden ribs I8 interposedbetween said flat inner sides 20 of said ribs I8 and said aligned dentedges 22 to clamp against the opposite edges 22 of said dents and thuskeep the dents longitudinauy aligned throughout their length and e topositively prevent the dent edges 22 from having an opportunity tobecome irregularly or otherwise individually imbedded into the woodenribs 22. I have found in practice that pitch band reeds constructed inaccordance with my invention are of greater initial strength, the lifethereof is greatly prolonged, and the tendency to injure shuttles andshorten their life greatly reduced. I

It is understood that my invention is not limited to the specificembodiment shown and that various deviations may be made therefromwithout departing from the spirit and scope .of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a pitch band reed construction, spaced dents, two aligned woodenribs having at inner sides opposite end portions of said dents at pointsspaced from the ends thereof and arcuate outer sides, pitch impregnatedcord spirally wound around said ribs having winds thereof extendingbetween the dents said pitch impregnated cord being compressed to joinadjacent winds of said cord together to provide a substantiallyhomogeneous and integral readily axially expansible and contractableshell for said ribs extending substantially throughout the length ofsaid ribs, and means of substantially the width of the at inner sides ofsaid wooden ribs interposed between the at inner sides of said woodenribs and dents to maintain said dents in alignment and to prevent saiddents from becoming imbedded into said wooden ribs.

2. In a pitch band reed construction, spaced dents, two aligned woodenribs having at inner sides opposite end portions of said dents at pointsspaced from the ends thereof and arcuate outer sides, pitch impregnatedcord spirally wound around said ribs having winds thereof extendingbetween the dents said pitch impregnated cord being compressed to joinadjacent winds of said cord together to provide a substantiallyhomogeneous and integral readily axially expansibleI and contractableshell for said ribs extending substantially throughout the length ofsaid ribs, and at protective strips of substantially the width of thefiat inner sides of said wooden ribs interposed between the flat innersides of said wooden ribs and dents to maintain said dents in alignmentand to prevent said dents from being imbedded into said wooden ribs.

WALDO HENRY FISH.

